Author: mathsolympiad

Teachers experience many issues in the classroom: an extensive range of aptitudes, deficiency of support or materials, big classroom sizes, time limitations, and more. But possibly one of the strenuous barriers is the fear of mathematics in students. Maths-phobia can simply convert into students betraying anxiety, a lack of approach, and even confidence issues.

A study has found that maths anxiety is connected to inferior maths performance, and can make enlightening the subject a daily pain. So how can teachers guide students to combat their fear of maths? How can they implant excitement in a subject that so many students get frightened of?

Build Confidence

Unsurprisingly, confidence is key in students’ agitation toward the maths subject. Earlier adverse incidents with the subject can take it to a bad and fatalistic attitude. To defeat this, as a teacher you should offer students with daily confidence-building practices that look energizing and entitle all students to perform well in maths subjects and prepare for International Maths Olympiad Challenge. This enhancement in confidence and self-esteem can reduce anxiety and fear, as students feel more and more competent and inspired.

Nourish Students’ Basic Skills

Associated closely with building confidence is bracing students’ basic numerical competency. Providing students chances to practice and upgrade critical skills for quantitative flow is necessary: when students don’t have the fundamental skills at hand, their working capabilities are pushed, which can be both disturbing and discouraging. It would help if you got students to practice mental maths and basic maths skills daily, incorporating them into games, quizzes, maths fun tests, maths Olympiad preparation, and warm-up activities.

Use Step-By-Step Process

There is proof that even intellectual maths students can experience burden and be overwhelmed when there are too many details at once and insufficient time to practice. It’s a better idea to part the resources into small exercises so that the maths olympiad students are able to understand and be adept at one step before continuing to the next.

Develop a Growth Mindset

Studies and publications on ‘growth mindset’ – the trust that our abilities can be advanced– have lightened up the role of student endeavor and self-awareness and acquired a significant foundation in educational practice. Motivating maths students to take challenges and have a growth mindset is inspiring. By offering students maths sample papers that get tough, you can show them they can overcome any obstacle through concentration and regular practice.

Attitude of Teachers

Last but surely not least, a teacher’s approach toward teaching mathematics can greatly impact students’ lives. Just as we request teachers to display a love of reading when it is about literature, we must also uplift maths teachers to exhibit excitement toward maths teaching. Teachers are the main pillars in building a positive and exciting learning atmosphere, such as by introducing maths puzzles and games into simplifications and examples.

Conclusion

By showing excitement and appreciation for mathematics, teachers can also develop a healthy relationship with the students to make them comfortable learning maths. And if teachers aren’t entirely comfortable with students themselves, a better recommendation is to invest in personal development. Learning how to teach maths subjects and connect students in ways that develop understanding capabilities can assist in reducing maths anxiety in both students and teachers.

Primary school is where it begins. This is when kids normally get introduced to math learning and when math uneasiness takes root repeatedly. Some children find math challenging yet exciting, while some find it extremely strenuous. They might feel distressed about not getting the answers correctly, or not keeping up with their levels of what the trainer or teacher is explaining.  

When kids don’t improve math learning skills at an early age, they tend to grow stress levels while doing math questions. This anxiety develops as they proceed through school and, due to the progressive structure of math, they go down further and further at the back. This generally results in hating the subject. Lack of skills and confidence in maths subjects can lead to self-hesitancy and not only below-par performance in math, but in other subjects as well.

Children who are anxious about math are expected to avoid it, which embellish a further barrier to studying math. Instead of being anxious, students should look for IMO sample papers and practice hard to participate in the International Maths Challenge and gain confidence.

Parents can play a key role in guiding to lessen their kids’ stress levels about math and develop their confidence and belief. It begins with encouraging children to learn and practice math and providing support at home. Moreover, by making Math playful and exciting at home, parents can remove negative discussions about math assignments and assure their kids to adopt a positive approach towards solving it, helping them recover their excitement and interest to learn more and grow their skills.

Some effective ways parents can reduce their kid’s math anxiety–

Make math interesting at home by arranging math games and quizzes and engaging your child in math-related works around the house. 

Be up to date on your connection and viewpoint toward math. Did you know that math anxiety can be infectious? The study has shown that parents can transfer their burden and stress about math to their kids, which can lead to bad performance and marks for your kid at school. Remember that you’re not manifesting negative feelings in front of your kid. Try to develop a positive, cool attitude in front of your child. 

Reach out to your kid’s school and meet teachers to discuss how you can help your child’s math learning skills at home. There are many assets out there, including IMO sample papers by International Maths Challenge for kids to help them practice the maths concepts they’re learning at school. Ask the teacher to suggest an excellent productive resource where your kid is at in their learning. A resource that is too tough to understand can create anxiety and more hesitation!

Enhance your math skills before giving attention to your child. Use resources and IMO sample papers and practice doing math questions. Communicate with your child in a comforting, positive way about math and have daily discussions about their recent math challenges and small successes that can take them to greater heights. Help them realize that mistakes are not the end; learning opportunities are limitless.

IMC (International Maths Challenge) offers a curriculum-specific student assessment & practice resource that is created by International Maths Olympiad experts on how your children learn best and efficiently. Don’t get distracted by any usual black-and-white practice books. For more information about the maths practice, visit our website.